Railway draft-rigging.



w H MINEH RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING. APPLICATION FILED MAH. 4,1918! n 1` nanna anni@ WILLIAM H. MINER, or cH-AZY, new YORK.

' RAILWAY DRAFTJRIGGING.

To all whom t 'may concern;

B e it known that I, WILLIAM H. MINER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chazy, in the county-of Clinton and State of New York, have invented Aa certain new and useful Improvement in Railway Draft-4 As is well known, in operation of railwaycars, the draft gears thereof are subject to much heavier shocks in buff than they are indraft. Consequently, it is desirable that a shock absorbing mechanism of very high capacity be employed in buil' and that a gear of lighter capa-city be employed inldraft in order to`faeilitate starting of trams inasmuch as a, gear of sufficient capacity to ab-` sorb the buiiing shocks mightprove too' stiff7 to permit easy starting under draft.

The object of my invention is to provide a friction shock absorbing mechanism for railway cars which will have Vthe desired heavy frictional capacity in buff and the lighter spring capacity in draft for the greater portion of the draft movement combined with a short frictional capacity at the end ofthe draft movement to absorb any excessi-ve draft shocks.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a portion of a railway draft rigging showing my 'improvements .in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is va horizontal, sectional view, taken substantially on the line 2 2 ofv Fig. 1 .and illustrating the'position of theparts in normal condition or under full release. Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse, vertical, sectional views, taken on the line 3-3 andi- A1, respectively of Fig.' 1. A

` ln said drawings, 10 10 denote casting center or draft sills of a railway car to the inner faces of which are secured stop castings A--A Each of the stop castings A has a rear main stop shoulder 11 a front main stop shoulder 12, a front limiting stop shoulder 13 and what may be termed an auxiliary front stop shoulder 1l.

The friction gear, hereinafter described, is mounted between the stop castings and is operatively connected to the draw ban 15 by a yoke 1G, the yoke and draw bar being Specification of Letters Patent.

Vsprings rarement am. se, isis.

Application filed March 4, 1918. Serial 110,220,224. v

pivotally Vconnected'by a heavy bolt 17 to permit radial movements of the draw bar. Within the yoke is a front follower 1S which normally engages the setof front main stop shoulders 12-12. All the parts of the gear are supported in operative position by ay saddle plate 19 detachably bolted or otherwise suitably secured to the bottom. flanges of the stop castings A-A.

The improved friction shock absorbing mechanism, as shown, includesa casting B, said casting B comprising a substantially Ecylindr'ical friction shell 20 at the front end and a rectangular spring casing21 at the rear of the shell, said spring casing` 21 being open at the sides to thereby permit the insertion laterally' of twin-arranged main The rear end of the casing 21 is formed with an integral wall 23 which acts as a rear follower and normally engages the set of rear main stops 11--11. Said rear wall 23 is provided with a rearwardly extending enlargement 2-1 which is recessed to accommodate a correspondingly shaped extension 25 onA an auxiliary spring follower 26 mounted within the casing 2l and the function of which is hereinafter described.

Coperable with the friction shell 2O is a series of friction shoes27 having a wedge 28 mounted therewithin, there being antifriction lrollers 29 between the shoes and wedge. The wedge 28 is extended forwardly 'and engages the front follower 18, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The friction shoes 2T are extended within the friction shell 20 so as to engage a forwardly extending collar or annular flange 230 formed on a front spring followerl 31 mounted within the casing 21 and against which bear the forward ends of the mainsprings Said collar 30 telescopes within the rear end of l the friction shell so as to properly guide the follower 31, and in order to place the main springs under an initial compreslower 31 and at its front end against a small follower or washer 35. A. retaining bolt 36 extends from the wedge 29 to the follower 31 and holds all the friction elements in proper position, as will be understood.

,. 14 for the purpose hereinafter described, said mately one-half inch. l

' -The operation is as follows: Upon inwardl or buling movement of the drawbar, the casting B will be held stationary against the rear stop shoulders lland inward movement of the front follower 18 will cause the friction Aelements to act throughout the entire inward stroke, the main springs. 22 of the gear being in action during this 'entire movement. In thismanner, the maximum capacity of the friction mechanism is obtained so as to takej care of the heavy buiing space in actual practice being made approxishocks. In draft, forward movement o-f the.

draw bar and yoke will force the rear spring follower 26 forwardly until the rear portion .of the yoke engages the rearward extension` 24 ofthe casting B. During thisportion of the movement, which in actual service will approximate two inches, the 'casting B will remain stationary due to the fact that; the friction between the friction shoesand the shell 20e will `loe suiiciently greater than the capacity' of the springs 22 to permit the compression of the latter without moving the casting B; After the springs 22 have been compressed sucienltlyfor thev rear end of' the yoke 16 to engage the rearportion of the casting B', it is evident that the latter will then be forced forwardly during the last half inch or so of the draft movementv and until the shoulders 37-3? come into engagement with the auxiliary front stops llt. During this last half inch movement, it

, is evident that friction 'will be generated, thus augmenting the shock absorbing capac` Although I have herein shown and bletitl scribed what I now consider the preferred manner of .carrying out4 the invention, the

same is merely illustrativeI and I contemplate' all changes and modifications that ncome within the scope of the claimappended hereto.

I claim In arailwaydraft rigging, the combination with draft sills, of stop castings secured to the inner faces thereof, each of said castmgs having arearmain stop, a front main stop and an auxiliary frontstop,'a'friction shell having shoulders at'its rear end normally engaging said rear main stops and provided also with shoulders near its front end normally spaced a predetermined dis' c tance from said auxiliary frontstops, friction elements coperable with. said friction shell, a follower interposed between said Y' elements and t-he front main stops, spring means within said shell coacting with saidy friction elements, av draw bar, yoke-acting means, and a rear spring-follower movable relatively to the frictionshell for a limited v distance under draft. In witness that I claim` the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name-thislSth day of Feb., 11918. mamar/r n. MMR, 

